Stephen Warnock

[Smithy]

I like Warnock . Always says good things about Villa and talks well.

With him, I can't think of many players where their form fell off a cliff quite so dramatically. He cost a fair whack for the time, was great for the first half of his first season with us, and was being talked about as an England regular. But then he went completely and utterly shit and was in the Championship a couple of years later.

Now we know why, O'Neill was obviously toxic.

Yeah, it's really interesting that Risso's observation of his form ties in EXACTLY to that "MON review" from Warnock's interview, which he admitted had the exact opposite effect as intended, and left him not even that excited about reaching a cup final.  For someone lauded for his man-management, MON totally screwed the pooch on that one.  I wonder how many other players suffered similarly?

I do wonder if this perception of "great man manager" comes from the fact that he could only manage one type of player (and those players are quite vocal about it). The type of player who enjoyed being left to his own devices all week, and being given nothing but a rousing speech before a game.  Because clearly he couldn't manage players like Milner and Warnock who wanted "more" from him and his coaching staff.

[Chris Harte]

Am I the only one here thinking that Warnock must be fragile if he's going to let something like that completely demotivate him?

I take on board the poor man management by O'Neill, but Warnock was saying he was in the form of his life, but then this review took all the wind out of his sails. Footballers tend to be alpha male types by all accounts, so why did this affect him to the point that he couldn't get excited about getting to a cup final? Was there nothing in him that would've made him say "I'll show that moron"?

The whole thing just seems odd to me.

[ChicagoLion]

Am I the only one here thinking that Warnock must be fragile if he's going to let something like that completely demotivate him?

I take on board the poor man management by O'Neill, but Warnock was saying he was in the form of his life, but then this review took all the wind out of his sails. Footballers tend to be alpha male types by all accounts, so why did this affect him to the point that he couldn't get excited about getting to a cup final? Was there nothing in him that would've made him say "I'll show that moron"?

The whole thing just seems odd to me.

I completely understand Warnocks reaction, it’s up to a manager to get the best out of his players and O’Neill totally failed with him and probably many others.
There are very few people who respond well to negativity and a bloke who’s job it is to motivate a team should know that.
He was an arrogant conceited xxxx and Warnock isn’t the first to blow his reputation.

[cdward]

MON and SG seem to have the same approach to coaching. Don't bother, just let the forward/attacking players produce a bit of magic and we will be OK.
Ashley Young and Gabby were happy to do their own thing, so MON let them away lightly, whereas the defenders and central midfielders were looking for proper coaching and instruction. 
Unbelievable hearing that the players were telling MON they weren't fit enough, so he just gets them to run around some cones a bit more. Makes the March collapses easier to understand now.
The players living in Manchester or London and not closer to Bodymoor Heath as they only had maybe one training session a week is just nuts, sounds like we were such a soft touch.
Gabby was obviously just left alone and took the piss with his partying, (must listen to his interview)
Houllier sounds like a bitter and sadistic headteacher trying to prove a point to a disruptive pupil.
McLeish, what we always thought, a decent enough bloke, who at least was trying to do the right thing, Lambert was just following orders building the bomb squad and shipping out the high earners.
Horrible to hear.
I used to be a MON believer, but as someone else has said, the more i hear now the more i dislike him, we had a great opportunity to really push on, and he wasted it.

[cdward]

Regarding the mid-season review, Warnock explained it was MON trying to use reverse psychology, but it had the opposite effect on him. He said he used to use a mind coach at Blackburn, but stopped when he came to Villa, but he realised he should have continued on.

[Monty]

It just sounds like MON was a proper c**t, Houllier was a chippy old sod, McLeish was nice but a bit odd and inadequate, Lambert was about as communicative as a potato, and Lerner had absolutely no control over anything.

[LeeB]

In light of that you can see why Tactics To. Hm and his chirpy optimism worked well initially.

[Dogtanian]

In light of that you can see why Tactics To. Hm and his chirpy optimism worked well initially.

The same when people still gave Stuart Pearce manager jobs. The first six months of his gung-ho battle-cries worked wonders, then they all realised that's all he had and his teams would drop off a cliff.

[Stinkin_Thinkin]

Am I the only one here thinking that Warnock must be fragile if he's going to let something like that completely demotivate him?

I take on board the poor man management by O'Neill, but Warnock was saying he was in the form of his life, but then this review took all the wind out of his sails. Footballers tend to be alpha male types by all accounts, so why did this affect him to the point that he couldn't get excited about getting to a cup final? Was there nothing in him that would've made him say "I'll show that moron"?

The whole thing just seems odd to me.

I watched it a clip I thought exactly the same. The other players saying "don't listen to a word he says" when on his way into the meeting and yet what does Warnock do? Takes everything on board and lets it break him into pieces.
More likely some off the pitch issues that led to him dropping off. affairs, alcohol, betting usual footballer stuff.


I've watched a couple of these interviews and it's like the hooligan books, the same bs repeated. No food in the canteen had to bring a packed lunch I was like WTF! had to wash our own kit I was like WTF! had to fly economy WTF! The manager told me I was shit I was like WTF? 

[kippaxvilla2]

Yep similar in that gabby one that’s out now especially his excuse culture for his antics in 2016.

[purpletrousers]

As a general rule, I tend to warm to former Villa players and managers over time.  Any animosity I had for them during their time here tends to wane, and I end up remembering the better elements of their time with us, ahead of the worst bits.

For MON, it's the exact opposite.  The more I hear, the angrier I get.  The position we were in. The players we had. Although things are going great right now, it's clear his total fuck-ups with that bunch of players cost us the chance of getting to the top table of world football 15 years earlier.

It's absolutely no wonder Milner couldn't wait to get out of here.

Hear hear. The more we hear, the worse it sounds. As has been said often enough, to have been so close yet so far from well lead…

[Dogtanian]

Imagine what would have happened if Milner had gone and done the right thing and told him he had pubes on his head.

[Ads]

I dont remember where reading about the review. He was poor in the Cup Final and never recovered after that. I didn't realise MON had broken him.

[Matt C]

Ever noticed in these footballer interviews how they’re utterly blameless themselves for absolutely everything? Not disputing MON wasn’t a vindictive chancer of course.

[Dogtanian]

Ever noticed in these footballer interviews how they’re utterly blameless themselves for absolutely everything?

Doesn't he say that his sports psychologist would have told him to ignore what O'Neill had said, and in hindsight, he should have just dismissed it?